On a related note, I noticed Voyager I and II were back in the news this week.

I find it absolutely incredible that both of these spacecraft are STILL delivering data back to NASA even as they rapidly approach the outer edge of our solar system.

And just look at what Voyager 2 accomplished. Over the span of the 1980s, this single spacecraft encountered and photographed all four of the outer gas giants, along with many of their moons. Now, much like it's sister craft, it heads boldly into interstellar space. Just amazing stuff.

shafnutz05 wrote:On a related note, I noticed Voyager I and II were back in the news this week.

I find it absolutely incredible that both of these spacecraft are STILL delivering data back to NASA even as they rapidly approach the outer edge of our solar system.

And just look at what Voyager 2 accomplished. Over the span of the 1980s, this single spacecraft encountered and photographed all four of the outer gas giants, along with many of their moons. Now, much like it's sister craft, it heads boldly into interstellar space. Just amazing stuff.

pittsoccer33 wrote:I remember reading (perhaps an urban legend) that the plans for the Saturn V rockets has been lost

If true, I would imagine there are myriad factors that might explain that.

Annnnnnd...... a quick trip to the Google Box bears that out. Seems many of the subs are defunct, and the medium in which a lot of the data was stored was obsolete within a few years. There have been sufficient advances in rocketry since 1969 that I'm not sure a Saturn V rocket would even be viable today, anyway.

Interesting to read that this rocket system would cost $4.4 billion per launch in today's money......

Edited because I can't count commas.

Last edited by tifosi77 on Fri Mar 22, 2013 10:11 am, edited 1 time in total.

The overall Saturn V would be antiquated by today’s standards, but there are plenty of components that would still be perfectly viable with a little modernization, like the F-1 and J-2 engines. I take the view that the Space Transportation System (i.e., the STS, or space shuttle) was essentially a dead-end and the space program would have been better served by continuing to develop and modernize rockets like the Saturn V and I-B. The SLS in operation was far more expensive than it was ever planned to be, and it was strictly limited to low-Earth orbit. More than 30 years after ending Saturn V production, NASA is spending a ton of money to develop the Space Launch System (SLS)—a family of shuttle-derived rockets that in its most powerful form will only barely surpass the performance offered by the original Saturn V.

In terms of cost, SpaceX is mum on most of the details, but they have announced that they are working on a “Merlin 2” engine that would rival if not exceed the Saturn’s F-1 engines in terms of thrust. A rocket using those engines could offer more capacity than NASA’s SLS at a fraction of the cost. (Assuming the SLS ever flies in the first place; Congress could always cut off the funding.)

Quite a Find! The F1 engines were designed & built by Rocketdyne in Canoga Park. Their main facilities were on Desoto Ave, about two miles south of the AI hqs buildings where I worked. Both R'dyne & AI were divisions of NAA, which later became Rockwell International.

I visited the Kennedy Space Center a few weeks ago and got to see a Saturn V rocket. It was the coolest machine I've ever seen. There's no way to appreciate how large it is until you stand next to it. It is AMAZING.

DMcGrew wrote:I visited the Kennedy Space Center a few weeks ago and got to see a Saturn V rocket. It was the coolest machine I've ever seen. There's no way to appreciate how large it is until you stand next to it. It is AMAZING.

With any other poster I would feel bad saying this, but.....pics or it didn't happen